The NHS is one of this country’s proudest achievements. We wish to protect and retain its founding principles of universality, comprehensive, free at the point of need and not based on the ability to pay.
By creating a publicly-owned, not-for-profit top-up fund which enables some treatment to be diverted via that service, this will release significant sums for the NHS to re-direct that money, effort and resource into delivering front-line services.
We want to deliver a method of increasing funding that doesn’t involve raising taxes or require economic growth, as we recognise the difficulties this presents – for individuals, business, Government.
We will incorporate proactive, personalised health and wellbeing support as a core component of the service, in support of the NHS’s 'whole population health' and prevention ambitions.
Updating the relationship between the individual and State, for a 21st century Britain and an ageing population, the vision is that over time, paying into a health top-up fund becomes an established feature of life for many of us. We maintain what we value about the NHS but deliver an expanded, government-owned health and care funding system, by enabling individuals to make additional provision for dealing with health and care challenges they may encounter at some stage in their life.
“Money is a hugely significant barrier to improvement.”
— Matthew Taylor, NHS Confederation, May 2023
“Funding the NHS only from general taxation is becoming more and more problematic.”
